


7 Kinds of Kissing

by Persiflage



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Cuddling & Snuggling, Daisy Is The Only Marvel Superhero, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Forehead Kisses, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Inhumans (Marvel), Kissing, Maveth (Agents of SHIELD), Minor Character Death, Not Ward friendly, Older Man/Younger Woman, Oral Sex, POV Alternating, POV Phil Coulson, POV Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson's Prosthetic Hand, Prompt Fic, Skye | Daisy Johnson's Superpowers, Spooning, Wall Sex, Workplace Relationship, Workplace Sex, angry sex - sort of, not Lincoln friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 05:58:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7965151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These are the many different ways that Daisy and Phil Coulson kiss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	7 Kinds of Kissing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pippypaleopath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippypaleopath/gifts), [zauberer_sirin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/gifts), [RowboatCop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowboatCop/gifts), [Skyepilot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/gifts), [Skyson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/gifts).



> I saw a list of kissing prompts on Tumblr an age ago - and decided to combine them into one fic. This is a S3 canon-divergence - so Daisy & Phil are in an established relationship (which the others know about), meaning there's no Daisy/Lincoln, or Coulson/Price (thank the gods!) 
> 
> Each type of kissing is related to a specific S3 episode, which is listed in the section breaks (along with the prompt for the specific type of kissing).
> 
> I've borrowed dialogue from the the episodes named.

**[1: Tiny happy kisses or pecks on cheeks when they are in a hurry (Laws of Nature)]**

The team's prepping to go and pick up a new Inhuman in a flurry of activity, and Coulson can't resist catching Daisy in a moment when she's not rushing about, or tossing out orders and instructions, to press a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Phil," she says fondly, and he feels a flush of heat in his face.

"Sorry," he says, "I know what we said, but – "

"It's fine, Phil," she tells him. The team knows that he and Daisy are together now, but the two of them do their best to keep things discreet and on the dl. They're not into big PDAs, but sometimes Coulson's feelings get the better of him.

She wraps her arms around him and he hugs her back gratefully. He doesn't deserve her, he knows – he's just a puny human, and she's a bonafide superhero – but luckily for him, she isn't interested in what he thinks he does or doesn't deserve: she wants him, and since he wants her, too, he no longer has to try to resist his desire to be with her.

The hug is over far too soon – they're in a hurry, after all, but she presses her lips to his forehead before rushing off to finish overseeing the loading of Zephyr1.

He's never had a lover who indulges in forehead kisses before, but he really likes it. Such kisses are tender and careful, just like Daisy herself, and he tries to be tender and careful when he returns (or initiates) those kisses, although offering Daisy tenderness isn't difficult.

He checks his cell phone's in his pocket, then he heads from his office to the hangar to join Daisy's team, and it very much _is_ Daisy's team – she's in charge of planning and running these ops in which they try to reach the new Inhuman before the mysterious black ops team that has got there first too often in the last month.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

"You love your new toy, don't you?" Daisy teases when Coulson starts to wax lyrical on the Zephyr1 after they've succeeded in rescuing Joey Gutierrez.

"I very much love my new toy," he agrees, not minding the teasing for one moment. This is their normal, after all – teasing and flirty banter, in between the serious and heavy stuff.

As they move across to look at the monitor on which the mystery woman's photo is displayed, Daisy teases him some more, joking about him joining the paparazzi. He gets a thrill when she calls him 'Phil' – it's still so new (like her own name change, and he feels second hand embarrassment as he recalls that he's still messing that one up occasionally). 

He thinks about the way she'd been so nervous when she'd told him she wanted to officially change her name, to reclaim the name her parents had given her, and which HYDRA had effectively stolen from her: nervous that he wouldn't understand, or that he'd think it was wrong of her – and when he'd disabused her of such notions, she'd thrown herself into his arms and kissed him in such an emphatic way that he'd been kissing her back before he'd even considered the wisdom of it, and by that point it was too late. 

Now, they make their way to the rather grandly named 'Director's Cabin', where Daisy begins to do some of the paperwork for Joey, and Coulson starts to do some work of his own.

They're about an hour away from the Playground still when Daisy groans softly, then stands up and stretches, her tank (she'd taken off her field jacket and gauntlets when she sat down to work) riding up to show her bare, well-muscled stomach, and Coulson bites back a groan of his own at the inevitable reaction of his body to hers.

She chuckles, as if she knows exactly what he's thinking (not entirely impossible, for all that she has 'Quake' powers, not telepathic ones), and circles around to sit on the edge of his desk.

"I know what you're thinking," she tells him.

"Oh do you now?" he says, as challengingly as he can.

"Mmhmm." She puts her feet on his knees. "Get 'em off," she orders, gesturing at her boots, and he feels a surge of desire at the bossy tone, which he does his best to suppress for the moment so he can concentrate on getting her boots off.

Once he's done that he cups his hands around her ankles, the left still a shade more awkward than the right, then begins to slide his hands up her legs.

She plants her hands back on his desk, and that's a signal – not that they've ever discussed it, but they've been together for a month, he knows her gestures intimately – so he stands up and unfastens her pants, and when she lifts her ass, he peels them and her panties down off her legs before sitting back down in his chair. He eases her a bit further forward on the desk, then hooks her legs over his shoulders, and leans in to blow warm air across her sex. She moans with pleasure, and he takes a moment to smirk up at her, before he lowers his mouth between her thighs.

Afterwards, he helps her back into her pants and underwear, and she slings her arms over his shoulders, then kisses him, soft and sweet. His jeans feel impossibly tight, but they don't really have time to actually fuck, and besides he rather likes the idea of postponing that pleasure until later, when they're in their own quarters back at the base.

"Are you okay?" Daisy asks when she releases his mouth at last.

"I'll manage," he tells her, and she grins, then plants a kiss on his forehead again. 

"I'll catch up with you later," she says, and he nods, and doesn't whine when she steps out of his embrace to go and grab her tablet, jacket, and gauntlets. After she leaves, he takes a moment to press the heel of his hand against his straining erection, then adjusts himself before he pulls his coat back on. He wonders if he can persuade Daisy to eat dinner in their quarters, rather than with the team tonight – he's not going to lie, he wants her to himself as soon as possible.

**[2: Slow, lazy kisses when they are naked in bed together in the morning (Purpose in the Machine)]**

"If the point of the room is to resonate the machine at a certain frequency, I can do that," Daisy tells them.

"And you can replicate it?" Phil asks.

"Got it drilled into my brain," she says.

"And it could kill you," he points out. She can tell he's anxious about this idea, but at the same time, he wants to know what's happened to Jemma if they can manage to establish that, and well, he's not the only one. "How long do you think you can hold it?"

"Maybe a minute?"

"If it's too much, you pull back. I can't lose you too." His hand on her arm shows her just how concerned he is for her well being, something she really appreciates.

"I've got this," she tells him, with a shade more confidence than she actually feels, but she doesn't want to reinforce his anxiety.

When Bobbi brings the probe into the chamber, Phil turns to her again.

"All right, you listen to me. You take care of yourself. You lose that probe, nobody cares." The unspoken corollary that everyone, especially Phil Coulson, will care if they lose her doesn't need to be said aloud. He tightens his grasp on her arm for a moment, then lets go and steps back out of her way.

The gesture is typical of the man, and of their relationship, she thinks as she begins to vibrate the air against the wall to her left: Phil never wants to get in her way, and will always, if he can, let her make her own choices and decisions (and mistakes) – unlike too many guys she's known over the years, he has her back, and has always had it, even before they became lovers. It still amazes her, a bit, how much Phil wants the best for her in everything, and that includes lovers – after she'd kissed him the first time (and he'd kissed her back wholeheartedly), he'd actually told her that she could do better than him. Ridiculous man. He's _Phil Coulson_ , of course there's no one better than him.

She lifts her right hand and begins vibrating the other wall, and things rattle and light bulbs pop, and she hears alarm from the others. She apologises, explaining that she's still 'tuning' the frequency of the resonating air, then she aims both hands down into the hole where the Kree monolith is sited. She can feel the effort she's making throughout her whole being – head, and heart, body and brain, but she doesn't let up, and the monolith liquefies.

When Fitz jumps through instead of dropping the probe through, she hears everyone's cries of dismay and horror, but all she can think is, "Dammit Fitz, wait" as she intensifies the vibrations, doing her best to hold the portal open for as long as possible. 

Finally, though, it's just too much – she can feel herself growing weaker by the second, and she lets go of the vibrations with rather more force than she'd intended, then drops to the floor of the chamber, her legs suddenly too weak to hold her up. Mack comes to kneel beside her as Phil peers anxiously into the hole in the centre of the chamber, then she hears everyone's murmurs of surprise and relief, and she guesses that Fitz, at least, made it back.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

The morning after their trip to England and their rescue of Jemma, Daisy wakes in the bed she now shares with Phil, and wonders if she'll be capable of doing anything today. Holding the portal open for the two and a half minutes it had taken for Fitz to retrieve Jemma has left her with a thumping headache that not even 7 hours sleep wrapped in Phil's arms can quite cure, and a general sensation of physical lassitude. The two of them are spooning together (and for once Daisy had let Phil be the big spoon), and though they're both naked, they hadn't had sex last night – she'd been too drained of energy for that. She pulls herself from Phil's arms, eliciting a quiet "Daisy?" from him.

"Bathroom," she tells him, grateful for the fact that his quarters has an ensuite bathroom.

She can feel his eyes on her as she makes her way, on still jelly-ish legs, into the bathroom and back.

"I'm okay," she tells him as he reaches out for her as she gets back into bed.

"Are you really?" he asks gently, pressing a kiss to her brow, then one to her nose, before his lips meet hers in a long, slow kiss that makes her toes curl and her entire body hum in tune with his vibrations. This is one of the best bits of her new powers, she reckons – the fact that she can 'read' people's vibrations, so that she knows, for example, when Phil's feeling amorous which, okay, is pretty often, but she doesn't mind – it's a huge ego boost to be desired so much by Phil.

"Exhausted," she admits ruefully. She can tell Phil, and he'll worry less for knowing exactly how she's feeling. "Feeling like I could use a day in bed."

He sighs. "I wish I could give you that," he says softly, tightening his arm around her.

"I wish we could both have that," she admits. "Just you, me, a warm and comfy bed, and no interruptions."

He smiles, evidently liking the idea. "I'd like to sneak you away to the Retreat," he tells her, nuzzling her neck for a bit. "We could roast marshmallows."

"Mmm." She hums happily at that idea. "But that'd mean getting out of the bed," she points out.

"Damn." He kisses her again, slow and lazy, like they really can spend all day in bed, and she slides her hands down his back to cup his ass. "Skye." 

"Daisy," she reminds him, and he screws his eyes shut in dismay. It's kind of comical, really, the way he forgets her new name. She knows perfectly well that it's neither deliberate nor malicious – he wouldn't be that cruel – and she knows, too, that he most often does it when he's gripped by strong emotion, usually worry about her health and well-being. 

"Daisy. Dammit." His blue-grey eyes are open again and she can see how dismayed he is by the slip.

"Phil, I've told you, it's okay. I am not going to hold it against you if you slip."

"But I shouldn't," he says earnestly. "Everyone else can remember, why can't I?"

"Perhaps because you're too close to me," she says. "Well, not too close – but you're closer to me than anyone else, and you always have been."

He sighs. "I will try harder to remember and get it right," he says, and this is a conversation they've already had more than once. 

"C'mere," she says, and tugs him closer, wrapping her arms and legs around him to hold his body against hers. She kisses him this time, mapping the interior of his mouth with her tongue, and eliciting moans of pleasure from him. His arousal is building nicely and when she pulls her mouth from his so they can both catch their breath, his body is literally humming with desire to her senses at least. She reaches down between their bodies and curls her hand around his hot, hard flesh, and he groans loudly.

"Fuck, Daisy!" 

She chuckles, then begins to stroke his cock as she kisses him again. Right now she literally doesn't have the energy to let him fuck her, but she can still get him off. It doesn't take her long to get him to the point of climax, but she backs off, easing her hand back down to curl around his balls, and he whines, which makes her chuckle.

"Daisy, please," he begs, and she'll freely admit that she loves it when he begs – it makes her so wet.

"Patience, Phil," she tells him, and lightly scrapes her teeth down his throat. His hips buck, a purely involuntary reaction, she knows, and she chuckles again, then drags her tongue up the length of his throat before kissing him yet again. She begins stroking his cock more firmly and rapidly brings him to the point of climax, then she bites down on the lobe of his ear, and he cries out as he comes, spurting all over their bellies and her hand.

"Daisy," he gasps, and his eyes are wet with unshed tears.

"Phil." She kisses him yet again, and she feels his vibrations gradually easing until his limbs are loose again.

"Do you want your hand?" she asks softly. She's persuaded him to leave it off if it makes him more comfortable to sleep without it, and he mostly does.

"Yes please."

She slides off the bed and pads over to the case where it's lying, and when she turns around again, he's gazing at her appreciatively.

"Enjoying the view?" she teases.

"So much," he says in a tone of frank admiration that makes her laugh a bit self-consciously. "Come back to bed so I can show you."

She climbs back onto the bed, and fits the prosthetic into place, then lies on her back. He kisses a path down her body, nibbling and nuzzling as he goes, then he parts her thighs and draws his tongue up the length of her sex. She moans softly, and that's all the encouragement he needs to push his tongue into her and begin eating her out. Phil Coulson is excellent at cunnilingus, which she suspects is down to age and experience – he's had plenty of time to learn exactly what to do with his mouth to give a woman the maximum amount of pleasure, and she is glad to enjoy the benefits of his skills.

Afterwards, they sprawl lazily on the bed for a bit, then Daisy says reluctantly. "I need a shower."

"Me too," Phil agrees, and she remembers he came on them both.

She sits up, a little surprised to find that she feels a bit more energised now, then she grabs Phil's hand and tugs. "Come on, Director, we need to get going or Hunter will probably be in here before too much longer."

Phil shudders at that idea, and she smirks, then leads the way into his ensuite. They have work to do, and people who are counting on them, so that fantasy day in bed will have to remain just that – a fantasy.

 **[3: Soft kisses meant to comfort and show love (Maveth)]**

Daisy is so relieved when Phil comes back through the portal from Maveth, that she almost collapses, and she's glad that Mack's there to hold her up as she once again destroys the Kree monolith. She and Phil cling to each other desperately until Mack hustles them both, and Fitz, out of the chamber. She doesn't look back, she really only has eyes for Phil, whose expression is devastated and she can guess that Ward's dead, that Phil succeeded in his mission to finally put an end to the torment and misery the HYDRA traitor has caused their team for so long. 

He's silent on the trip back to the Playground, and she lets him keep that silence, but she hopes he knows that she's not going to let him brood on what he's done. He heads straight to their quarters, but Daisy stops off to pick up food supplies and beer – she desperately needs to eat after dealing with the portal again, and she reckons the beer will help Phil to relax. She doesn't plan on getting him drunk, just loosening him up a bit.

May comes in as Daisy's loading up a tray. "Are you okay?"

Daisy nods, then frowns. "I will be," she says.

"Did Coulson – ?"

"Yeah. Ward's gone for good now."

May's expression relaxes a bit, and Daisy can sense an easing of her vibrations too. "If there's anything either of you need, let me know," she says, and Daisy thanks her, then heads upstairs to their quarters.

Phil's in the shower when she gets there, so she sets the food and beers down on the corner table, then she strips off her gauntlets and the jacket of her field suit. She puts on a clean tank and some jeans, and is just hanging up her field suit when Phil emerges from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. 

"Hey," she says softly.

"Daisy." He sounds heartbroken, she thinks, and she moves towards him, and after a moment he moves too, letting her wrap her arms around him. 

"Phil," she says, and nuzzles his neck until a little of the tension she's feeling in him eases off.

"You should eat," he tells her, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

"We both should."

"I – I don't think I can."

"Okay." She guides him across to the table, and he sits down, then swings around in his chair and she can take a hint, so she sits on his lap rather than in her chair. "Beer?"

"Haven't you anything stronger?" he asks, sounding a little plaintive.

"I think beer is strong enough for you tonight," she tells him, and he sighs, then acquiesces. 

She hands him a bottle after opening it, then picks up a sandwich and begins to eat. He sips at his beer, and she's on her second sandwich when he begins to talk, telling her in detail of what happened on Maveth. She continues to eat as he talks, and when he finishes his account by telling her that he left his hand behind because he couldn't bear the reminder of what he'd done with it, she swallows some beer of her own, then takes his bottle from him and looping her arms around his neck, she presses her forehead to his.

"You did the right thing, Phil," she tells him quietly. "We both know I didn't like or trust Rosalind Price, and I questioned SHIELD getting involved with the ATCU, but no one deserves to be killed by Ward in cold blood like that. And you didn't kill him in revenge for her, did you? It was for Kara, and what he did to Bobbi and May, and for Eric, for all the people he's hurt or killed over the years."

"And you," he says. "He hurt you, too. Kidnapped you twice, and tried to kill you. And he was instrumental in you going through Terrigenesis with no preparation."

"And Thomas and Christian, and their parents," she reminds him. "The world is better off without Grant Ward in it, and you shouldn't feel guilty for putting him down finally."

"It's not – " He pauses and swallows, and she kisses him, trying to convey how much she loves him, trying to offer him comfort for whatever turmoil he's going through. 

"It's not that I feel guilty for killing him," he says once she pulls back again. "It's guilt that I didn't stop him sooner. I should've stopped him sooner."

"Oh well, if that's the reason for your guilt, stop," she says firmly. "I shot him four times in San Juan, and then left him for dead. I should've just shot him in the head and made sure he was dead. If I had, Kara would still be alive, and Bobbi wouldn't have been tortured."

"No, Daisy – " he begins, sounding horrified at the idea that she'd blame herself.

"Shh, Phil," she says, and kisses him again. "Come on, let's go to bed and get some rest, god knows we both need it."

"I'm sorry," he says, sounding contrite. "I should – "

"Phil." She cuts him off again, and kisses his brow this time. "Stop with the blame game." She slips off his lap, then grabs his right hand and leads him over to the bed. She doesn't ask when he's going to get a new prosthetic – she trusts him to know when he's ready for that, but she hopes it'll be soon, for his sake as well as hers.

She makes him sit on the side of the bed while she gets undressed, then she helps him out of the bathrobe he'd put on after his shower. She lies on her back, then persuades him to snuggle up on her left side, his head on her shoulder and her arms around him. 

"Is this okay, or do you want to spoon?"

"This is okay." His voice is husky with emotion, and she tightens her hold on him. 

"Get some sleep, Phil."

She feels him gradually relaxing, his vibrations 'softening' as he falls asleep, and it's only once he's deeply asleep that she allows herself to relax and sleep, too.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

Phil wakes her hours later, clearly in the midst of a nightmare, and she instantly guesses what, or rather who, he's dreaming about. She wakes him up quickly, and he lies beside her, his body shuddering and she's pretty sure he's crying, but she doesn't switch on the light on the nightstand. Instead she curls her body against his side, and begins stroking her hand up and down his chest, just to the right of his scar, then she moves her hand to his left arm and begins the same stroking movements on that, too. His body begins to relax again, and she shifts so she can lean over and kiss him, tasting the salt of his tears on his face. After a while he kisses her back – still at the same soft, slow pace that she'd set, and she can sense the nightmare receding by the way his vibrations loosen up.

"I love you, Phil Coulson," she tells him between kisses in the dark. "I love you because you're a good man. You're brave, and kind, and compassionate, and strong, and the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Daisy," he whispers, and he tries to wrap his left arm around her as well as his right. She curls her hand over his bicep, then slides her hand down and lifts his arm over her body. He'd been so careful about touching her or letting her touch his injured arm after they first got together, and she'd worked hard to let him know that she wasn't repulsed by it. She'd made it clear to him that to her it was a symbol of his bravery, and she could never find that ugly or malformed – he might not have superhero powers, but he's definitely a hero in her eyes.

When his body's thoroughly relaxed, and his vibrations have changed to their usual quiet hum, she gets him to lie on his right side, then she spoons up behind him, wrapping both her arms around him, and propping a leg over his legs, trying to encompass the whole of his body with hers.

"Try to get some more sleep, Phil," she says softly, and he murmurs an agreement.

"I'm sorry, Daisy," he whispers after a few moments.

"Don't be," she tells him. 

"But I woke you up," he says.

"Doesn't matter," she says. "I'm glad I was here for you."

His arms are resting over hers and at her words, his right arm tightens a bit. She feels him transition from awake to asleep over the next few minutes, and then she allows herself to sleep too. 

**[4: Kisses on skin, teeth dragging across flesh, tasting salt and love (The Inside Man)]**

After Talbot goes out, Daisy speaks. "I'm not kidding, I will hurt him," she says, meaning Creel, and Coulson feels a pang of hurt when he tells her,

"You're not on this op."

"What d'you mean? I should be there." Her tone is disbelieving, but not yet angry.

"I agree," he tells her immediately. "But there are two rules for the Symposium. The first is no aliens. The delegates want to be able to speak freely without fear of offending anyone."

"Yeah, well, it's too late for that," she tells him, her tone bitter, not that he blames her.

"What's the second rule?" asks Bobbi.

"No weapons," Coulson says, and explains that this is why he thinks Creel should go with Talbot, even though he fully understands Hunter's anger at the idea.

He's not happy that these rules have been imposed. He's particularly unhappy that Daisy can't come along too – she is, after all, the best possible advocate for Inhuman rights, but the organisers had been very clear on what would happen if any Inhumans turn up, and he can't risk losing Daisy – she's too important, both to SHIELD and to him.

"I'm sorry you have to rely on me to put your case for you, instead of doing it yourself," he tells her as she helps him pack for the Taiwan trip.

She sighs. "Phil, you're only person I would trust to speak for me and my people. But it's not right."

He turns to her and pulls her into his arms, glad that he has two hands again. "I know," he tells her, "and I wish there was a way to bring you along, but I don't want to risk losing you. I _can't_ risk losing you."

"I know." She gives him a brief kiss, then goes back to packing his bag.

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?"

She sighs again. "Work with Lincoln," she tells him. "Training is still – awkward."

He notes her hesitation, and asks, "Has he – ?"

"Yeah, he's made it clear he doesn't think much of my choice of lover – not that he called you that, mind. I think he'd rather I quit SHIELD and went off somewhere with him." She pauses, one of his neatly folded shirts held against her chest. "He's got a lot of issues. I wish Andrew – " She cuts herself off with an apologetic look, but he understands – they all miss Andrew in both his professional capacity and as a friend.

"I'm sorry Mr Campbell's not making things easy for you," he says as she sets his shirt in his case.

"Oh well, nothing new there, Phil," she says, and he nods.

"I'll wish you luck," he tells her, and she gives him a wry smile.

"Likewise, Director."

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

"Now, it's our hope that by working together we can come to a consensus about how to deal with these aliens," Talbot tells the delegates and Coulson has to suppress another wince. He's been doing that a lot since he and Talbot arrived.

"They prefer the term Inhumans," he tells the others, wondering if he's going to be able to get through to any of them today and persuade them to be more accepting. He can't forget that Petrov referred to Inhumans as 'creatures' when they were first introduced.

"What kind of name is that?" demands Ellen King, the Australian delegate; she sounds alarmed, he notes. "Is it meant to intimidate us? Mock us?"

"Not at all," Coulson says quickly. "They're just trying to find their place in the world. But they're more human than anything else. I think it's important that we see them that way. It's not a virus or a disease, it can't be spread. It's a genetic anomaly that affects a very, very small percentage of the population. But they're as human as we are, just with a little something extra."

"Unfortunately this 'something extra' could destroy us all," says Haruto Yakimura.

"That depends on whether we make them our friends or our enemies," Coulson points out. "We should think of this as an opportunity. An opportunity for compassion."

He looks at the faces around the table as he listens to Anton Petrov's suggestion of a sanctuary state in Russia, and he can tell that several of them really like this idea – but he's reminded, horribly, of the way Native Americans were treated with the 'Reservations', and he thinks, too, of Jewish ghettos, and he's pretty certain he knows what Daisy would think to this idea.

And then, of course, it all goes horribly wrong – Malick denounces him as the head of HYDRA, and he realises that Talbot has set him up, and he wonders what Daisy will do if he winds up dead in Taiwan.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

Back at the Playground, they only have a couple of hours to get ready before they have to fly to Russia, where Bobbi and Hunter are pursuing Malick, but Daisy, it turns out, has already listened to the recordings from the Symposium, and when he arrives in their quarters, she more or less pounces on him as soon as he's through the door, and pinning him to the wood, she kisses him, her body pressed tightly against his.

"Daisy?" He gasps her name out enquiringly when she drops her mouth from his in order to drag her teeth across the flesh of his throat.

"Phil," she says, and licks the spot she'd scraped with her teeth. He shudders and moans quietly.

"What – ?" he begins, then moans incoherently when she nips at his earlobe instead of his throat. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she says, then resumes kissing him on the mouth, grinding herself against him. In moments she has his pants open and his engorged cock out, then she slips her own pants off and steps out of them without letting go of his dick. "Inside me, Phil, now."

He picks her up and she wraps her legs around his waist, and once his cock's buried inside her, he turns them around so he can back her up against the door. 

"Phil. Phil. Phil." She chants his name with every thrust, and he hopes it's no surprise to her that he doesn’t last long – it's certainly no surprise to him when they're fucking in such a frenzy.

"Fuck," he mutters once he's set her back down on her feet and straightened himself out. "What was that all about?"

"You," she says, rather cryptically. When he frowns in confusion, she elaborates. "I listened to the recordings – you were defending me, defending my people." She swallows hard, her hands clutching at his biceps. "You're not even an Inhuman, but you defended us."

"What did Mr Campbell say?" he asks, immediately guessing the reason for this emotional outburst.

"He thinks we are a disease," she tells him and he winces. "And – " She shakes her head. "Doesn't matter."

He doesn't push her, but he thinks he'll ask what else Campbell said once they're in the air – there's not really time for that now. "We'll talk later," he says, and she bites her bottom lip, then nods her acceptance. "We need to get going."

"It's okay," she tells him. "I've already packed my bag, and I've got some more shirts and stuff for you." She gestures at the neat pile on the foot of their bed.

"Thanks."

She shakes her head, then pulls him into her arms and holds him tight. Automatically he slides his left hand into her hair, while his right arm wraps across her lower back. "You're the best, Phil Coulson," she whispers, then kisses him, then scrapes her teeth over his Adam's apple again before she laves the spot.

"Are you okay?" he asks when she releases him and steps across the room to pick up her bag.

"I will be," she tells him, and he nods, willing to leave things at that for now.

"Okay. Let's get going – we need to be around to provide back up for Agents Morse and Hunter."

She nods in turn, and shortly afterwards they head through the Playground to the hangar and the Zephyr1.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

Once they're aboard the plane, Coulson takes Daisy to the Director's cabin so they can talk properly – he needs to know what Campbell's been saying to upset Daisy because he's not going to allow the young man to become an agent if he can't treat Daisy with respect: she'll be his team leader and for the moment her team remains very small, so it's important they all get along.

He waits for Daisy to get settled, then sits beside her on the couch. "Tell me what I missed with you and Mr Campbell," he says. 

She frowns, then explains that Fitz and Simmons have discovered that there's something in Carl Creel's blood that neutralises the Terrigenesis, which Jemma thinks could be used to create a cure for people who have yet to go through the process of unlocking their powers. Lincoln, she tells him, got excited at the idea.

"I think he'd actually take a cure, if such a thing existed," she says, and her tone is disbelieving, as if she can't imagine wanting to get rid of her own powers – and he knows what a huge step forward that is for Daisy, that she can no longer imagine being without them.

"He referred to us as a disease and when I tried to say we're not, he started spouting this medical stuff." She winces. "I got mad at him, made a comment about him going to Med School and how we should all shut up and listen, and – " 

Coulson slides his hand into hers and squeezes lightly. "And?"

"He said that he hadn't hacked his way through life." She swallows, and he can tell she's still really upset by Campbell's accusation. "I didn't, I haven't – " She starts, and he cuts her off.

"Of course not," he says. "You've worked very hard for all that you've achieved, and I know, though you don't talk about it much, that your life must have been pretty shitty at times." He presses a kiss to her temple. "If you and Mr Campbell are clashing this much, perhaps it would be better if he left."

She heaves a sigh. "I'm beginning to think so," she tells him. "I wish I knew where I'd gone wrong."

"Hey, you are not at fault here," he says softly. "I've read all of Mr Campbell's assessments, you know – from you, and May, and Dr Garner before, and it's obvious from my own observations as well, that the only reason he's remained is you – he wants you to be with him, and he keeps on hoping that he can persuade you to ditch me in favour of him."

"That's _never_ happening," Daisy says. She climbs onto his lap and kisses him with some of her earlier intensity, her teeth on his skin making desire surge through his body. "Phil, I want you, I've always wanted you." She starts undressing him, and before very long, he's flat on his back on the couch, and Daisy's riding him with a single-mindedness that he finds very stimulating, and they come quickly, their orgasms overlapping each other.

"You're mine," she murmurs as she lies on top of him while they catch their breath.

"And you're mine," he tells her. 

She sighs. "I'm going to tell Lincoln that he needs to smarten up or he's out."

"Okay," he says softly. It's her call, after all.

"Thanks for letting me fuck you," she says.

He chuckles. "As if I mind that," he says lightly. 

She lifts her head and kisses him, soft and sweet, then climbs off him, and they take it in turns in the tiny bathroom to get cleaned up. They've got work to do – as always. 

**[5: Hungry kisses, biting and pushing and demanding all (Parting Shot)]**

Daisy waits for Phil outside the bar, knowing that he won't leave before Mack does, and that Mack will find it very hard indeed to say goodbye to Bobbi and Hunter. She's never asked her field partner, but she has a feeling that Mack's got some sort of unrequited thing for Bobbi – or maybe it's simply that he and Bobbi are just exceptionally close, like she and Phil used to be. She shakes her head. No, no one could be like she and Phil used to be, and anyway, she and Phil have always loved each other, long before they started having sex. 

Mack comes out of the bar, tears rolling unashamedly down his face, and she steps up to him, and hugs him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Phil comes to stand next to them, one hand on Mack's back and one on hers, probably the closest he's ever likely to get to a three-person hug. 

"Thanks," Mack says huskily, and she nods, then they set off towards the airfield where they've left the Zephyr1, Daisy walking between Phil and Mack, arms linked with both of them. They don't talk – she's not sure she can speak around the lump of emotion in her throat, and she's pretty sure Mack couldn't either. Bobbi's been like an older sister to her since she joined the team, and even Hunter's had an annoying older brother vibe with her on occasion, although less so since the summer, after Bobbi got tortured. She's going to miss them both, they all are.

Once the plane's in the air, Mack disappears into a corner with May – which makes sense to Daisy, in some ways. She follows Phil through to the Director's cabin, and as soon as he's closed the door, he turns towards her, and she sees the look of misery in his eyes, and opens her arms to him.

"Daisy," he mumbles, and they wrap their arms around each other. She recalls that Phil's known Bobbi for quite a few years, and knows that he must be hurting just as much as Mack at the disavowal of two of his agents.

"Let's get some rest," she suggests, and he lets her guide him towards the bed. She gets his shoes off, then peels him out of his coat, polo shirt and jeans, then she gets her gauntlets and boots off, before skinning out of her field suit; they stretch out on the bed together lying on their sides facing each other.

She kisses him, softly at first, but then sensing the vibrations of his emotions – anger at the way things have turned out, and not just concerning Bobbi and Hunter, but also Malick and the Russians, she allows her kisses to become hungrier, biting and demanding, pushing her tongue into his mouth in a more aggressive manner. He kisses back nearly as fiercely, and she pushes him onto his back, then moves on top of him, pinning him to the bed, his wrists gripped tightly in her hands.

"You won't move me," she tells him in a fierce tone.

"Wanna bet?" he says sharply, and she grins. 

"If you like," she tells him.

His hips buck upwards, trying to dislodge her, and she chuckles, then shifts her weight subtly, and he grunts (and not just because her groin is pressed against his, she thinks), then tries again. 

"Phil, Phil, Phil," she says in a chiding tone. "Give it up."

"No," he says fiercely, and that makes her laugh. She leans down and kisses him some more, all teeth and tongue, and he shudders beneath her; she can tell precisely how aroused he is, and it thrills her because she's definitely wet for him. 

She brings his right wrist over to his left and grasps both in her left hand, then reaches down with her right hand and pulls his swollen cock from his boxers, and he groans when she slides her hand down the hard length of him. It requires a bit of manoeuvring to get his cock inside her when she's only got one hand free since the other is still pinning his wrists in place, but she manages it, and he calls her name quite loudly when she sinks down onto him.

"I'm gonna fuck your brains out now, Phil," she tells him, and he groans, then mutters, "Please, Daisy, please." Which is precisely the kind of encouragement she likes most from him. 

She holds each of his wrists in each of her hands again, then proceeds to do exactly as she promised, driving both of them to a very intense climax that leaves Phil weeping, and Daisy's eyes wet.

When she releases her grip on his wrists, she can't help thinking he looks exhausted. She picks up his right wrist and massages it for a few minutes. She lifts her body off his, then goes into the tiny bathroom that's attached to his cabin, and fetches a washcloth that she's run under the hot tap. He quirks an eyebrow at her, but he doesn't object when she peels his boxers off and drops them onto the floor before rubbing him over with the washcloth. She returns to the bathroom and quickly cleans herself up, too, then she pulls out the sweatpants and t-shirts they both favour for sleeping in, and she helps him to dress, before dressing herself. 

"Let's sleep now, Phil," she tells him, and he nods; he's already half way there, if she's any judge, and after she makes him lie on his side, spooning up behind him, he soon drifts off. She brushes her lips over the nape of his neck, then along his shoulders, one after the other, and she senses his sleep deepening. She tightens her hold on him a little, then closes her eyes and tries not to think of anything as she makes herself count back from 500.

She falls asleep somewhere around 350.

**[6: Desperate, deep kisses before they leave, not knowing whether they will ever return (Spacetime)]**

"All we have to do to guarantee that we change the outcome is not let Daisy out of the Base," Coulson tells the others, knowing full well that she's not going to agree to that, not at first anyway.

"What? No! I have to go help him," Daisy says urgently.

"The one thing we know for certain is that Daisy was at the centre of these visions, whereas May doesn't appear in any of them," he points out.

She gets to her feet, abandoning the icepack she's been holding to her head. "Look, I get the logic, but I can handle this myself."

He wonders if she feels as terrified as he does at the prospect. "I'm sorry. May goes instead."

"Coulson. I was meant to save him." 

She's earnest and desperate now, and it hurts to keep telling her no, but what else can he do? He knows, logically, that there's no situation in which he would shoot Daisy, but he still can't let her out of the Base, and since he's the Director, he does actually have the ability to stop her from going, no matter how mad at him she'll get.

"If you want to try to stop this man from dying then this is how we're doing it. Understood?" He puts his hands on his hips, trying out a stern look as well. "Lincoln and I will chase down any intel we can on the homeless man. Daisy, remember every detail you can about where this happens, and then we'll send May. No one else goes. I won't _pick up a gun_ until this is finished, and FitzSimmons will stay out of the damn snow."

He's fairly sure that he's going to be in for an ear blistering later, once Daisy gets him on his own, but it'll be worth getting his ears blistered if he keeps her safe. It's not often he tries to stop her from doing something that they both know is right, but he just can't risk it, not now. They've lost too many people lately.

When he realises that Daisy's rehearsing the fight she saw in her vision with May and the others he has to go and watch. So far he's avoided getting the expected telling off, happily, and she seems quite pleased to see him when he comes in, despite the fact that May's taking too long, Daisy says, to actually complete the fight sequence. And when she gives him the stopwatch to time the whole thing, he thinks that maybe she's forgiven him, at least for now.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

Andrew's arrival is the last thing Coulson had expected, and he realises that Daisy going after Charles, not May, has been inevitable all along, but dammit, he had to try. He goes back to their quarters with Daisy when she heads there to change into her field suit, he doesn't want to say goodbye to her in the way that he wants in front of an entire assault squad.

"Daisy." He sounds breathless, he realises, and knows that's incipient panic, which he will not let Daisy see, if he can possibly help it.

She turns to him from the closet where she's got her field suits (she's got more than one, in case of damage), and says, "Phil," in a very controlled tone. "C'mere." She holds out her arms to him and he steps into her embrace gladly, wrapping both arms tightly around her.

"I don't want you to go," he whispers, ashamed of himself for voicing it, but certain that she already knows.

"I know you don't, Phil. But I have to, you know that."

"Yeah," he breathes. 

He pulls back and lifts his hands to cup her face, staring into her eyes, and she smiles at him. He leans in to kiss her, and it's a lot deeper and far more desperate than he'd like, but she doesn't seem to mind – she doesn't hesitate to kiss him back, pulling his body tightly against hers as their kiss gets messier. He doesn't want to let her go, he has to let her go, she needs to go – he pushes himself away from her, stumbling slightly, and she catches his elbows to keep him steady, her grip as sure and strong as always.

"I'm sorry – " he begins, but she shakes her head.

"Don't apologise, Phil," she says firmly. "Never apologise for showing me how much you care about me. Ever."

He nods, then says, "You need to get changed."

"Yeah," she agrees, and turns back to the closet.

He sits on the side of the bed and waits while she gets changed, then accompanies her, walking one pace behind her as they make their way to the hangar. 

When they reach the foot of the plane's loading ramp, he can't help catching hold of her arm and stopping her for a moment.

"Hey, watch your back. If it goes south, get out. Don't try to be a hero, and for god's sake, Skye, come home." (She'll be a hero, of course, there's no 'try' about it, but he wants to remind her to put herself first, and to take care of herself, too.)

"It's Daisy, sir," she says, her amusement at his slip up (because of course he fucking slips up, he's in such a state of panic and trying so desperately not to let anyone know that) somewhat at odds with the formal 'sir'.

"Dammit. Daisy. Right. Daisy – just, come home safe." 

She reaches up and clasps his shoulder in a comforting manner, then turns and walks up the ramp. At the top she looks back and gives him a nod, and he nods back, waits until the plane's lifted off, then turns around and tries to gather himself before he has to go and talk to anyone else.

**[7: Those kisses full of relief, sensing each other, feeling each other, revelling in each other’s presence when they return (Spacetime)]**

When Daisy realises she's looking into a mirror, something clicks into place, but it's still a shock when Phil comes striding in, gun firing, and she can't help gaping in shock at the sight of him, and then at the sight of the guy going down _behind_ the mirror – the guy Phil just saved her from. She wants to throw her arms around him, and kiss him senseless, but there isn't time, dammit. 

"Guess it's a good thing I was here," he says, a little cockily, she thinks.

"How did you know that – " she begins, but he nods at the equipment in the corner.

"Monitoring the security feed," he tells her. "Oh, and by the way, your chances of _not_ going up to the roof just evaporated – HYDRA's already taking Charles there now. Get moving."

She starts to rush out, then turns and asks, "Wait, what are you going to do?"

"Find Grant Ward." When she gives him a confused look – Ward's dead, Phil killed him on Maveth, he adds, "Yeah. Day got weirder." 

And there's no time to stay and find out what's going on, she has to get to the roof, she _has_ to save Charles Hinton.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

After Charles dies, she lies on the roof, crying and feeling no little despair at the fact that she couldn't save him after all. There's nothing she can do to stop Malick's goons from grabbing him and hustling him away – she can barely breathe any longer, she aches all over, and when she lifts her arm to vibrate them, she finds she doesn't have the energy.

Phil appears soon after the helicopter carrying Malick lifts off, and he looks stricken until she manages to croak out his name.

"Daisy," he gasps, and she's a bit amazed he gets her name right this time. He kneels beside her, and carefully cradles her upper body in his arms, and she wonders, suddenly, is this what he did when he found her in the cellar of Quinn's Italian villa that time. 

"Are you – ?"

"Not dying, Phil," she tells him, coughing. "But I don't think I can move."

"Is it safe for me to move you?" he asks.

She'd shrug, but it'd hurt too much. "Move me anyway," she says. "Someone needs to bring Charles."

"Of course."

She listens as he calls out on the comms, ordering Jemma to come up to the roof as soon as she's finished dealing with 'Mr Campbell'.

"What happened to Lincoln?" she asks.

"Apparently Giyera threw a fire extinguisher at his head."

"Ouch," she says.

"Yeah. Dr Simmons seemed to think he'll recover okay – although he'll have a hell of a headache."

"Good."

She lets Phil hold her and doesn't try to talk any more while they wait for Jemma to come and assess her. As soon as he gets the all clear, Phil lifts her up himself, and she's impressed all over again by how strong he is – he's a deceptive man, Phil Coulson – a lot of him is carefully concealed, which she supposes fits with him being a SHIELD agent for so long.

After a brief discussion between Phil and Jemma, they get a containment pod from Zephyr1 sent down to the rooftop, and Phil carries her aboard, then two agents move Charles inside too.

"I'm so sorry about Charles," he tells her softly, and she turns and buries her face in his chest, trying not to sob, but unable to hold it in. He continues to cradle her in his arms, letting her cry herself out until she falls into an uneasy sleep.

DJ-PC-DJ-PC-DJ

When she wakes, she's in bed in their quarters, which is a surprise – she'd have expected Jemma to want to keep her in the Infirmary. Phil's sitting beside the bed, and the look of profound relief she sees on his face when she opens her eyes and says his name tells her that he was more worried about her than she'd realised back on that rooftop.

She notes that her boots, gauntlets, and field suit are all gone, and there are a variety of bandages and dressings about her person beneath the t-shirt and sweatpants she wears. She's amazed that she slept through Jemma's ministrations, then recognises the slightly woolly sensation in her head.

"Did Jemma sedate me?" she asks, then pulls a face because her mouth feels as if it's been stuffed with cottonwool.

"Yes," Phil says. "She said it would speed up your healing process."

"Huh." 

He helps her to sit up, then reaches over to a tray that's sitting on the nightstand and picks up a bottle of the vitamin-and-protein-laced juice drink that he regularly makes up for her according to a recipe of Jemma's – it's meant to help her recover her powers more quickly, and does a fine job, she'll admit, and it doesn't even taste too horrible, thanks to Phil's tinkering with the recipe. She swallows half, then lets him feed her the two thickly cut ham and salad sandwiches he's also brought her. They're followed by a generous slice of banana loaf cake (made with Muscavado sugar because 'it tastes better' according to Phil), and two powdered doughnuts. She drinks the other half of the 'Quake shake' as Phil's jokingly dubbed it, then accepts a large glass of chocolate milkshake as a chaser.

They don't talk while she eats and drinks, but she notices that Phil can't keep his eyes off her – and she can sense the jagged edge of worry in his vibrations as he feeds her.

"Better?" he asks when she's downed the last drop of milkshake.

"Some," she agrees. She'll need more food, and more sleep, she knows, before she starts to really feel physically better. "What time is it?"

He checks the wristwatch he's gone back to wearing on his prosthetic wrist. "A little after midnight," he says, and she frowns.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

"Wanted to make sure you refuelled, first," he tells her, "but now you have, I will get some sleep." 

He gets to his feet, and she reaches out for his wrist. "Phil?"

"I'm going to go and sleep in your old bunk," he says.

"Why?" she demands, alarmed by the idea.

He gestures at her. "I don't want to – "

She cuts him off. "Phil, stay with me, please?"

He hesitates for only a moment, his jaw characteristically tightening, then nods. She watches as he gets undressed, changing into sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

"Are you warm enough?" he asks.

"I wouldn't mind my sweater," she tells him, and he nods again, then roots around in a drawer and fishes out the baggy sweater she often wears in bed. He helps her to sit upright, then gets the sweater on her, before he climbs onto the bed beside her.

"What's the most comfortable position for you to sleep in?" he asks.

"If you lie on your back, I'll snuggle up to your left side," she says, because her ribs hurt more on her left than her right.

He nods, then stretches out on his back, and she carefully moves closer, feeling grateful when he slips his left arm around her as she settles her head on his shoulder. 

"Okay?" he asks quietly.

"Yeah." Something suddenly occurs to her. "You didn't ask what happened on the roof," she says.

"I've seen the footage," he tells her, and she shifts to look at his face.

"Footage?"

"They had security coverage even on the roof," he explains. "We pulled all the security camera footage, copied it for our records, then erased it from theirs."

"Oh." She takes a moment to process this, then remembers something else. "Uh – Ward?"

He sighs heavily. "Yeah. It was Ward – but not Ward."

"Huh?"

"Transia's security scanners were pretty sophisticated," he tells her. "Or so one of your Geek Squad told me. Anyway, the scanner recorded biodata for anyone entering the building, and while that thing looked like Ward, it wasn't. It was something inhabiting his corpse."

She shudders involuntarily, and his left arm tightens fractionally. "That's gross," she says.

"You'll get no argument from me," he says. "And whatever it is that's inhabiting the corpse, it killed every single member of Transia's board – in a frankly gruesome way. Dr Simmons was nearly sick when she saw one of the corpses."

"Ew," Daisy says. She doesn't want to see said corpse, she decides, not if it's so awful that Jemma wanted to vomit.

"Yeah." He presses his lips to her temple. "Don't think about it," he advises. "You'll have nightmares if you do."

"I may have those anyway," she tells him.

"I know," he says. 

She shifts carefully, reaching her mouth to his, and he mutters her name just before her lips land on his. This kiss doesn't have the same desperate quality as the kisses they shared before she went off to try to rescue Charles, this kiss is full of relief and gratitude that she survived Malick's attempts to kill her, and she feels new energy flowing into her as he returns her kisses full measure. 

"Daisy," he gasps when she finally pulls her mouth free to catch her breath.

"Phil." She presses her lips to his forehead. "It's okay," she says. "Right now, I don't have the energy for more than kissing."

"Okay," he mutters, then draws her body closer still and she kisses him again, more deeply.

"Not gonna lie," she says when they pause to breathe again. "I thought I was going to die on that rooftop."

"I'm not surprised," he says quietly. "Whatever that was that Malick was wearing, it made him immensely strong."

"Yeah," she says ruefully. "I know."

He winces. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Phil." She kisses him yet again. "Let's not talk about HYDRA or former HYDRA heads any more, okay?"

"Okay," he says softly.

She shifts position, settling herself with her head on his shoulder again, and he strokes his right hand up and down her left arm, a steady, comforting gesture that makes her relax more fully. She yawns hugely, mutters an apology, then feels sleep pulling her down into its arms, and she allows herself to succumb. Her final thoughts are of gratitude for Phil Coulson, and of sadness for Charles and Polly Hinton, and their daughter, Robin.


End file.
